dragonballfandomcom-20200225-history
Heart purity
Heart Purity (also known as purity of the heart) is a personality trait bestowed by some characters in the Dragon Ball Franchise. It effectively means that the person is either pure good or pure evil, without any mixtures between the two, whatsoever. A character with this trait is said to be "pure of heart." This personality trait is a prerequisite to being able to use - and being resistant to - some techniques and abilities in the franchise. Overview There are two ways to be pure of heart: to be either pure good, or pure evil. It is significantly more difficult to be pure good than it is to be pure evil, as sinful pleasures (such as lust and greed) can surface in even relatively altruistic people. It appears as if it is possible for sinful desires to be present and latent inside people, and those people will still be considered pure of heart, so long as they repress those sinful desires. This is suggested when Krillin could not ride the flying nimbus (which, as we will see below, is one way of testing for heart purity), but later in the manga, was able to throw a spirit bomb (another means of testing for heart purity). Examples of negative feelings that can cause a person to not be pure good are: :Lust. The desire for sex. This is the first negative thought seen in the franchise, as it is shown as the reason Master Roshi is unable to ride the Flying Nimbus. :Greed. The desire for material wealth. Bulma is shown to have this trait. Yamcha is later shown to possess this trait. :Selfishness. This is another trait that Bulma has. :Aggression. The tendency to be easily provoked into violence, often beyond what the situation calls for. Many reformed villains (especially Piccolo and Vegeta) are shown to have this trait. :Sadism. Possibly the most evil trait of all, the one demonstrated by most of the villains of the franchise. This is the desire to inflict pain and suffering on innocents, simply for the sake of inflicting pain and suffering. Those in the franchise believed to be pure evil almost always demonstrate this trait, and it appears to be their most prevalent. They often prefer to drag their victim's deaths out as slowly and painfully as possible, and also seem to enjoy mental torture prior to their victims' demise (as seen when King Piccolo said he would only destroy one sector at a time so the world would live in fear, or Cell wanting to give the people of Earth ten days to live in fear while they await the Cell Games). Things that are affected by Heart Purity The following things require either the user to be pure of heart to use the technique, or require the opponent to be pure of heart to resist it. These are listed in the order they are discovered in the manga. Flying Nimbus Various Flying Nimbus clouds exist in the Dragon Ball universe, most of which are owned by Korin. These are quasi-sentient beings who come to their masters simply by their masters calling for them, and are used as personal aviation for their masters. However, they only allow masters who are pure of heart to ride them. It is unknown if a person who is pure evil could ride a flying nimbus, as no pure evil character is ever seen attempting to do so. Telepathy Korrin has the ability to read minds. Although purity of heart is not necessary for this power to work, he exposits, the first time he is seen using it, that purity of heart certainly makes the task easier (comparing it to looking through transparent glass). Devilmite Beam The Devilmite Beam (the signature technique of Spike the Devil Man) amplifies an opponent's negative thoughts until the victim's heart literally explodes. However, this requires a person to have at least a single negative though, so those who are pure good can resist it. Spirit Bomb Spirit Bombs can only be created by those who are pure of heart. Anyone who is tainted by any negative thoughts would instead have the gathered energy absorbed into their body (which can in fact be used to the warrior's advantage, as seen Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!). Furthermore, a spirit bomb created by one of the two types of pure-hearted warriors (either pure good or pure evil) will not hurt anyone else of similar alignment. This means that a spirit bomb created by a pure good warrior (such as Goku) will not harm a pure good warrior (such as Gohan). Super Saiyan It is theorized by Tien Shinhan that one can only become a Super Saiyan if they are pure of heart. This, however, is refuted when various non-pure characters (including Vegeta) are shown being able to achieve the form.